The use of computer networks continues to grow in many commercial, institutional and home settings. As computer networks become more prevalent, ways of simplifying the networks and increasing efficiency, productivity, and ease of administration are also becoming critical. One significant network improvement in recent years has been the advent of wireless networking. The use of wireless network technology in the home has become especially popular as of late. In addition to facilitating Internet connectivity, home networking permits personal computing devices and various consumer electronic devices and appliances within the home to communicate with each other. Wireless technology, such as used in IEEE 802.11 wireless networks and networks of Bluetooth-enabled devices, is attractive in home as well as corporate environments for reasons of convenience, mobility and flexibility.
As with many networking technologies, one impediment to the wider adoption of wireless networking technology has been the difficulty experienced by non-expert users in configuring network devices. This is especially true in informal settings lacking dedicated network administrators. Configuring network devices often requires substantial and in-depth knowledge of the nature of networking as well as the hardware, software, and protocols of the network. With respect to “thin-client” devices that typically run a reduced version of an operating system and do not have support for standard user interface components (e.g., a monitor, keyboard, and/or mouse), this problem is even more daunting; the user is not even able, with respect to such devices, to access the familiar features and aspects that generally provide them comfort and assistance. This lack of standard I/O capabilities very often may preclude the casual and non-expert user from configuring a thin client device for a home network, thus causing a substantial impediment to technology adoption.
One of the more difficult problems facing users of wireless technology is radio interference. Wireless protocols typically allow operation at one of a number of different frequencies or “channels.” Each channel represents a portion of the radio frequency (RF) spectrum. When multiple devices use the same portion of the RF spectrum at the same time, each will typically experience radio interference. The effects of interference range from complete inability to communicate at the worst to greatly increased error rates at the best. Either effect is detrimental to network performance and is preferably to be avoided. In order to avoid RF interference, RF (wireless) devices that are not intending to communicate with each other should operate on different channels. In some wireless technologies, adjacent or harmonic channels to one already in use are also to be avoided. In addition, devices other than wireless networking devices may also impact channel availability. For example, a number of toys and appliances generate RF radiation purposefully or incidentally, and such RF radiation may interfere with one or more wireless networking channels.
The typical casual or non-expert user will not know what RF spectrum use is ongoing and will be unable to properly select a channel for wireless device operation. Thus, in addition to the difficulty of provisioning thin client wireless devices generally, the casual user also faces an additional hurdle of somehow selecting an interference free channel. Thus there is a pressing and unresolved need for a simple and easy way to configure such thin client devices for optimal network connectivity on one or more appropriate wireless channels.